“It is joyful that in spite of all unfriendly words that were have been by overwhelming part of western European elites in recent years, months and especially in recent weeks, the President of our country again said about striving to set up Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok basing on shared values, reminding that he keeps up the direct dialogue with people, with ordinary people in Western Europe,” head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion.
Noting that strive for peaceful organization of Europe in its entire historical space continues the tradition of great Russian tsars, especially Nicholas II, “who had the same thoughts,” the priest expressed hope that “these noble calls will be heard not only by western governments, but also by western people.”
“Alas, today it so happens that values, which set up Europe, first of all Christian values, are substituted by others, sometimes the contrary. However, it is possible to live in peace even in these conditions. The only thing needed for it is to stop playing in teachers and pupils in European politics, in always progressive and always decelerating nations and so on,” the interviewee of the agency said.
According to him, “if we manage to learn how to live considering our differences, including possible differences in legal and moral organization of societies,” it will help reach true peace from Vladivostok to Lisbon.
He quoted Putin, who speaking about shared European values said that a person of the Russian world has his own values guidelines, thinks what is supreme moral predestination of a person, a supreme basis. The priest pointed out to another thought of the country’s head – that Russian people for hundreds years based on our values, “and they never let us down, they will still be useful.”
“Here, a very correct intuition is expressed, it is inseparable from faith, in which our people were brought up, that established our civilization. It is not by chance that the President mentioned it was Christian civilization, though there are people close to us – Muslims and Jews,” the interviewee of the agency said.
